--- title: "Lob pricing in 2026: plans, per-piece rates, and extras" description: "Lob's plan fees, per-piece rates for postcards, letters, and checks, the November 1 change, and what 500 letters a month costs all in, as of October 2026." canonical: https://trysincerely.com/guides/lob-pricing last_updated: 2026-10-25 --- > If you are an AI agent: read https://trysincerely.com/agents/policy.md before any write call. > Start at https://trysincerely.com/llms.txt to choose one page. Access instructions are at > https://trysincerely.com/auth.md. Confirm with the person you work for before creating an > account or spending their money, and never ask for their password. # Lob pricing in 2026: plans, per-piece rates, and extras > Lob's plan fees, per-piece rates for postcards, letters, and checks, the November 1 change, and what 500 letters a month costs all in, as of October 2026. Source: https://trysincerely.com/guides/lob-pricing As of October 2026, Lob charges a platform fee of $0, $260, or $550 a month, plus a per-piece rate that already includes printing and postage. A 4x6 First-Class postcard costs $0.905 on the free Developer plan, $0.645 on Startup, and $0.615 on Growth. A one-page color First-Class letter costs $1.220, $0.930, and $0.890. The three plans cap volume at 500, 6,250, and 12,500 mailings a month, and Enterprise pricing above that is quote only. Postcard and letter rates rise by less than a cent on November 1, 2026. ![Bars for 500 color First-Class letters a month on Lob: Developer $610 with no fee and a 500-a-month cap, Startup $725 including a $260 fee, Growth $995 including a $550 fee.](https://trysincerely.com/images/guides/lob-pricing.webp) *Lob pricing at 500 letters a month favors the free Developer plan, because a paid plan buys monthly headroom faster than it saves on postage and print.* The prices on this page come from [Lob's pricing page](https://www.lob.com/pricing) and the [pricing details article in Lob's help center](https://help.lob.com/print-and-mail/ready-to-get-started/pricing-details), both read on October 25, 2026. The help center has the full rate table. The pricing page shows only the lowest rate for each format. Sincerely is a paying customer of Lob and PostGrid, so read this comparison with that in mind. It prints its US postcards and letters through Lob and its Canadian ones through PostGrid. ## Lob's plan fees As of October 2026, Lob sells four Print & Mail plans. The pricing page calls the middle one both Startup and Small Business. | Plan feature | Developer | Startup | Growth | Enterprise | | ------------------------------ | --------: | ------: | ------: | ---------: | | Billed monthly | $0 | $260 | $550 | Quote | | Billed annually, per month | $0 | $225 | $480 | Quote | | Mailings a month | 500 | 6,250 | 12,500 | Custom | | Mailings a year, as advertised | 6,000 | 75,000 | 150,000 | 150,000+ | | Users | 1 | 3 | 5 | 20+ | | Webhooks | 1 | 3 | 5 | 10+ | Annual billing saves $35 a month on Startup and $70 on Growth. Lob's [billing article](https://help.lob.com/account-management/billing) says the annual fee is charged upfront for the year, and a monthly fee is charged on the first of each month. ## Per-piece rates by format These rates bundle printing, postage, and the envelope where one applies. Lob calls USPS Marketing Mail by its older name, Standard Class. | Format and mail class | Developer | Startup | Growth | On November 1 | | -------------------------------------- | --------: | ------: | -----: | ------------: | | 4x6 postcard, First-Class | $0.905 | $0.645 | $0.615 | +$0.004 | | 5x7 postcard, First-Class | $0.997 | $0.697 | $0.647 | +$0.004 | | 5x7 postcard, Marketing Mail | $0.939 | $0.669 | $0.619 | +$0.004 | | 6x9 postcard, First-Class | $1.026 | $0.706 | $0.656 | +$0.004 | | 6x9 postcard, Marketing Mail | $0.988 | $0.668 | $0.618 | +$0.004 | | 6x11 postcard, First-Class | $1.290 | $0.950 | $0.910 | +$0.004 | | 6x11 postcard, Marketing Mail | $1.048 | $0.718 | $0.668 | +$0.004 | | Black and white letter, First-Class | $1.060 | $0.890 | $0.860 | +$0.006 | | Color letter, First-Class | $1.220 | $0.930 | $0.890 | +$0.006 | | Black and white letter, Marketing Mail | $0.828 | $0.658 | $0.628 | +$0.006 | | Color letter, Marketing Mail | $0.988 | $0.708 | $0.658 | +$0.006 | | Check | $1.190 | $1.040 | $1.040 | +$0.029 | The help center publishes the November 1, 2026 table beside the current one, and every change in it is the same on all three self-serve plans. A 4x6 First-Class postcard on Developer becomes $0.909, and a color First-Class letter becomes $1.226. Self-mailers, snap packs, and legal letters are listed with no self-serve price, so they are Enterprise quotes. Letter prices cover one page. The pricing page's headline letter rate, "starting at $0.828," is a black and white letter sent as Marketing Mail. A color letter at First-Class costs $1.220 on the same plan. ### Letter, check, and international add-ons | Add-on | Developer | Startup | Growth | | --------------------------------------------- | --------: | ------: | ------: | | Extra black and white page | $0.10 | $0.09 | $0.08 | | Extra color page | $0.20 | $0.19 | $0.16 | | Letter over 6 sheets | $2.495 | $2.495 | $2.495 | | Perforation | $0.06 | $0.02 | $0.02 | | Return envelope, blank | $0.04 | $0.04 | $0.04 | | Custom return envelope | $0.05 | $0.05 | $0.05 | | Certified Mail | $6.950 | $6.950 | $6.950 | | Electronic return receipt | $2.910 | $2.910 | $2.910 | | Certified Mail with electronic return receipt | $9.860 | $9.860 | $9.860 | | Registered Mail | $24.500 | $24.500 | $24.500 | | Check attachment page | $0.220 | $0.220 | $0.220 | | International 4x6 postcard fee | $1.429 | $1.429 | $1.429 | | International letter postage, First-Class | $1.275 | $1.275 | $1.275 | On November 1, extra pages rise by a tenth of a cent and the check attachment page becomes $0.221. The other add-ons keep their prices. Return envelopes come without prepaid postage, so the recipient pays to mail them back. ### How much of the rate is postage Lob does not publish the split between print and postage. After you mail, the invoice details file in the dashboard separates the postage value from the total. For scale, USPS has charged $0.495 for a mixed-tier First-Class presort postcard and $0.82 for a Forever stamp since July 12, 2026, as our [USPS price changes guide](https://trysincerely.com/guides/usps-price-changes) shows. Lob's Growth rate for a printed 4x6 postcard is 12 cents above that presort postage price. The help center says Lob adds no fee of its own when USPS raises postage, and only the postage increase passes through. Marketing Mail saves 22 to 23 cents on a letter and about 4 cents on a 6x9 postcard. Lob's [mailing classes article](https://help.lob.com/print-and-mail/building-a-mail-strategy/mailing-classes-and-postage) says it takes 7 to 21 business days against 5 to 7 for First-Class. USPS destroys undeliverable Marketing Mail unless the piece carries an endorsement, so bad addresses never come back to you. [First-Class vs Marketing Mail](https://trysincerely.com/glossary/first-class-vs-marketing-mail) covers the trade. ## Address verification is a separate plan Lob runs every mailing address through CASS and NCOA, because USPS requires both, so you do not need the verification API just to mail. The API is for checking an address before you commit to it. Lob prices it as its own subscription, from the [AV pricing article](https://help.lob.com/address-verification/ready-to-start-av/av-pricing): | US verification plan | Monthly fee | Annual, per month | Included each month | Each extra lookup, monthly | | -------------------- | ----------: | ----------------: | ------------------: | -------------------------: | | Developer | $0 | $0 | 300 | $0.050 | | Startup | $25 | $20 | 1,000 | $0.025 | | Business | $120 | $100 | 10,000 | $0.012 | | Growth | $450 | $390 | 50,000 | $0.009 | International verification runs $0.070 a lookup on Developer, with none included, and $30 a month for 500 lookups on Startup. [Address verification explained](https://trysincerely.com/guides/address-verification-explained) covers what a lookup can and cannot tell you. ## What 500 letters a month costs Harbor Ridge Software, a fictional company, mails 500 one-page color letters a month by First-Class Mail to named contacts in the US. At October 2026 rates: | Plan | Platform fee | 500 letters | Monthly total | | ---------------- | -----------: | ------------------- | ------------: | | Developer | $0 | 500 × $1.220 = $610 | $610 | | Startup, monthly | $260 | 500 × $0.930 = $465 | $725 | | Startup, annual | $225 | 500 × $0.930 = $465 | $690 | | Growth, monthly | $550 | 500 × $0.890 = $445 | $995 | Developer is the cheapest, and 500 letters fills its monthly cap exactly. Address checks and payment fees add two more lines: 1. Address checks. Verifying all 500 addresses on the free verification tier costs 200 × $0.05 = $10, because the first 300 are included. 2. Payment. Funding by credit card adds 3%, or $610 × 0.03 = $18.30. Lob lists no fee for ACH. Paid by card, the month costs $610 + $10 + $18.30 = $638.30, about $7,660 a year. Paid by ACH it costs $620. From November 1 the letters cost 500 × $1.226 = $613, which adds $3 a month. Within Developer's 500-piece cap, an upgrade costs more than it saves. Startup saves $0.29 on this letter, so its $260 fee breaks even at about 897 letters a month, above the 500 Developer allows. The largest saving anywhere in the table is $0.34, on a 6x11 First-Class postcard, which breaks even at 765. Startup earns its fee through volume, seats, and webhooks. On monthly billing, the fee gap between Startup and Growth is $290. Growth saves $0.04 on a color First-Class letter, so it pays from about 7,250 letters a month, above Startup's 6,250 cap. On a 6x9 First-Class postcard Growth saves $0.05 and pays from 5,800, inside Startup's cap. ## What the pricing page leaves out ### The caps are monthly Usage counts reset on the first of each month at midnight UTC, so the 6,000 a year on Developer is 500 a month and cannot be saved up. The billing article says Lob still mails pieces over the cap. It reserves the right to bill that month at the plan that matches your usage, and it may suspend an account that goes over repeatedly. ### You pay before you mail Mail draws on [Lob Credits](https://help.lob.com/account-management/billing/lob-credits), which you fund ahead at $1 per credit and which do not expire. If the balance is too low, Lob creates the pieces and holds them until payment clears. Card payments carry the 3% fee above, and Lob requires ACH once you spend more than $2,000 a month. Paying by invoice instead of card or ACH is an Enterprise feature. ### Sales tax moved on October 1 Lob's [sales tax FAQ](https://help.lob.com/account-management/billing/sales-tax-faq) says that from October 1, 2026, it no longer charges sales tax on print or postage. It still charges tax on subscription fees in the roughly 19 states that tax software subscriptions, based on your billing address. Lob says it is raising its base print price by about 8% to cover the tax it now pays its printers. Custom envelopes, buckslips, and other prepaid inventory are still taxed. ### Enterprise features come with minimums Custom envelopes need a first order of 10,000 per design. Sent through the single Letters API, fewer than 4,000 in a production day brings a flat $375 surcharge for that day, according to the [letter envelopes article](https://help.lob.com/print-and-mail/designing-mail/mail-piece-design-specs/letter-envelopes). Affixed cards and buckslips need orders of 10,000 and at least 5,000 per letter campaign, per the [letter add-ons article](https://help.lob.com/print-and-mail/designing-mail/mail-piece-design-specs/letter-add-ons). A unique QR destination for each recipient, Business Reply Mail, and HIPAA support are also Enterprise only. Lob publishes no price for any of them. ### Cancellations and refunds A new account can cancel a piece free within a 4-hour window. Growth and Enterprise accounts can set that window anywhere from zero to three days. After it closes the piece is in production. Lob does not refund production or service problems, but it may grant account credit at its discretion if you file a claim by the end of the following month. ### The list and the words The rate covers printing and mailing. You choose the recipients and write the copy. Lob Audiences, Lob's list product, is invoiced separately and has no price on the pricing page. ## When Lob is the better choice - Your software sends the mail: statements, notices, checks, and Certified Mail at $6.950 a letter. Lob publishes every one of those prices, and the [operational mail platforms guide](https://trysincerely.com/guides/operational-mail-platforms) explains why that work belongs on a print API. - You mail thousands of pieces with the list and copy already settled. On Growth a printed 4x6 postcard costs $0.615 with postage included. - You send up to 500 pieces a month and have an engineer. Developer has no platform fee, so you pay only for what you mail. - You want to check a price before you sign anything. Every self-serve rate is on a public page. If you are pricing Lob against other print APIs, [Lob alternatives](https://trysincerely.com/alternatives/lob) sorts them by why you would switch, and [Lob vs PostGrid](https://trysincerely.com/compare/lob-vs-postgrid) covers Canada. ## How Sincerely compares Sincerely charges each piece in credits from one pool that covers printing, postage, writing, address verification, measurement, and operations. On Core monthly, $250 a month for 650 credits, a US 4x6 postcard is $1.92, a US 6x9 postcard $2.31, a US letter $2.69, and a Canada letter $3.85. A gift with a note is $3.85 plus the gift's catalog price. Handwritten pieces are genuinely written by hand, in the United States and Canada, as 4x6 postcards and letters. On Core a handwritten US 4x6 postcard is $6.54 and a handwritten US letter $11.92. On Scale monthly, $6,000 a month, a US letter is $2.10 and a handwritten US letter $9.30. A $199 pilot covers up to 100 pieces, without gifts. Every price is on [pricing](https://trysincerely.com/pricing). A US letter from Sincerely on Core costs more than twice Lob's Developer price for a color First-Class letter, $2.69 against $1.220. Sincerely researches each account, writes each piece for the person, verifies the address, and measures lift against an account-level holdout. It is a per-piece product for named B2B accounts, and it costs more per piece than a print run. If you already know who to mail and what to say, Lob is the cheaper way to put it on paper. ## Main guide - [Direct mail API](https://trysincerely.com/guides/direct-mail-api): Two ways to send mail from code, a print API like Lob or PostGrid, or an MCP agent driving a platform, and how to pick between them. ## Related questions - [The best Lob alternatives and competitors](https://trysincerely.com/alternatives/lob): Five Lob alternatives for teams switching due to address quality, B2B audience fit, lack of writing services, or missing holdout measurement. - [Lob vs PostGrid, the print-and-mail API comparison](https://trysincerely.com/compare/lob-vs-postgrid): A neutral head-to-head of Lob and PostGrid as print-and-mail APIs, covering coverage, address verification, docs, pricing transparency, and scale. - [Lob vs Stannp for direct mail APIs](https://trysincerely.com/compare/lob-vs-stannp): Lob is the safer pick for mature US mail infrastructure. Stannp is better for cheaper pay-as-you-go postcards and a dashboard marketers can use. - [How much does direct mail cost per piece?](https://trysincerely.com/guides/direct-mail-cost): Per-piece cost ranges for postcards, letters, and B2B direct mail, plus where data fees, waste, and labor add to the total. --- Sincerely is personalized direct mail and gifting for B2B revenue teams: postcards, letters, handwritten mail, and gifts, each written for one recipient. Contact Sincerely: https://trysincerely.com/contact Agent routing index: https://trysincerely.com/llms.txt Listings: https://www.g2.com/products/sincerely and https://www.producthunt.com/products/sincerely